Rail-stay.



v H. H. SPONENBURG.

RAIL STAY.

APPLICATION FILED MAY 29. 19|6.

1,228,613. PatentedJune 5, 1917.

2 SHEgTS-SHEET 1.

Arm/mam.

" 1. H. SPONENBURG.

RAIL STAY. APPLICATION FILED MAY 29| 1915 Patented June 5, 1917.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

INVENTOR g BY Agog/VHS.

Us TED STATES PATENT; OFFICE.

Emu H. sronnnnune, or GUBNEE, rumors, ASSIGNOB, BY mssmz assrenusnrs,

' mo o'rro n. BARNETT, or cnrcaso, armors.

RAIL-STAY.

I To all whom-it may concern Be it known that I, HIRAM H. SPOKEN- Buns, a'citizen of the United States, resid-,

ing at Gurnee, in the county of Lake and State of Illinois, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Rail-Stays, of,

which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to a railf stay, that is, to a device for preventing the longitudinal creep of railroad rails.

A rail stay consisting of a single unitary structure has advantages over ardevice consisting of two or more separate parts. De-

vices of the one-piece type are more conveniently handled by the track men. Where track devices of this character consist of more than one part there is always likelihood that in shipping and handling some of the parts will become lost or mislaid; or through inadvertence a larger or smaller quantity of one part maybe supplied to a given station than of the other part or parts,

.which occasions inconvenience and waste.

On the other hand, one piece rail staysor anti-creepers of the types used heretofore have ordinarily been deficient in one important respect. The hold which they take is not sulficiently firm and reliable. They are very likely to be shaken loose or other wise disturbed fromtheir operative position.

For example, when the device consists of" a rail en agingyoke or bar formed with a foot or auge adapted to bear ,against the cross tie, the movement of the device away from the tie, when the rail contracts with a fall of temperature, is likely to'be interfered with by the ballast, particularly in winter time when the ballast is frozen. It

frequently happens, under these circumstances, that the foot or tie abutting flangesticking in the ballast wrenches the device from the rail or loosens "its grip thereon sufliciently to make the device inoperative. Besides this the constant vibration of the rail will soon affect the hold on the rail of a device which is rigid and depends only on friction for keeping it in place.

The principal ob ect of my present invention is to provide a rail stay which comprises two separate parts united so that the device may be handled as a unitary struc- Sp e'cification of Letters Patent.

ture in such mariner that the rail en- Patented J une5, 1917; I Application filed lay 29,1916, Serial No. 100,452.

gaging member,which is formed so as to take a firm and reliable hold on.-the rail, may be capable of movement with the rail,

when the latter expands and contracts, for

example, without reference 'tothe member ter, if need be, may against the tie.

A further object is to provide a rail'stay which can be economically manufactured ,whichbears against the tie sothat the. lat- A remain in position and. which will be light in weight and will have thenecessary "strength and holding power.

The invention consists in the construction and arrangements to be hereinafter described and' claimed for carrying out the above stated objects and such other objects as will appear from the following description.

lhe invention is illustrated, in certain preferred embodiments, in the accompany ing drawings, ,wherein V p Figure 1 is a side elevation of the device as. applied to the rail, with the rail shown.

in section. 1

Fig. 2 is a plan, view of the rail stay and portions of the rail and tie.

Fig. 3 is a sectional view on line 33 of Fig. 1.

Figs. 4 and 5 are views, in perspective, of the two parts of the rail stay.

Fig. 6 is a fragmentary view of a rail stay, illustrating a modified construction of the foot member, and

' Fig. 7 is a perspective view of the modified 1 foot member. Like characters of reference designate like partsin the several figures of the drawings."

A is given a quarter twist, as shown at 13, so

This end of the bar'is curvedaround so as to form a spring rail engaging member 14: notched at its end at 15 to engage the edge of the base flange of the rail.

The foot member 11 is formed with a horizontalpl'ate 16, thewidth'of which'is reduced at its outer end to provide shoulders 17. The narrowed portion of the tongue lies in a depressed seat 18 with which the bar 20 is formed. The ton ue is secured to the-bar by means of a so t,metal rivet 19 which -is small and light enough so that the forces exerted by the movement of the rail will shear it without difliculty.

The two members of' the device are fastened together preferably so that a slight space 20 (Fig. 2) intervenes between the bar and the shoulders 17. The first creeping movement of rail A will shear the rivet, whereupon further creeping movement is checked by the bar 10 coming in contact with the shoulders 17 on the tie abutting member.

In applying the rail engaging member 10 to the rail the spring member 14 has to be expanded so that the rail engaging member has a resilient engagement with the rail which absorbs vibration and prevents looseness from this or any other cause. The lip 21 above the notch 15 stands oblique to the length of the rail so that any tendency of the rail to creep forces the point 22 of the lip higher up on the slope of the base flange, producing a tighter bind of the device on the rail at this place. The extremity of the lip, however, stands more nearly in line with the length of the rail than transversely thereof so that the lip, though relatively small, has very considerable strength as against the forces exerted upon it.

The rivet 19 holds the parts of the device together so that the device can be handled as a unitary structure, thus doing away with the inconvenience and waste which usually attends the use of rail stays made up of a plurality of parts. For purposes of transportation and application to the rail the device is a one-piece rail stay. As soon, however, as the rivet is sheared the rail engaging-member is structurally separate from the tie abutting member so that when the rail contracts, as it necessarily will with a fall of temperature, the rail engaging member will move freely away from the tie without disturbing the position of the foot, which may be frozen into the-ballast, or for other reasons may be prevented from moving with the movements of the rail.

Obviously the same objects might be attained by different means. One difl'erent expedient is illustrated in Fig. 6. The foot member, in this case, is a malleable casting consisting of a tie abutting fiange- 23 and a bifurcated tongue between the members 24 and 25 of which the bar or tie engaging member 10 extends. The lower member 25 of the tongue may be bent up, as indicated at 26, after the tie engaging member has been put in placeto hold the parts in engagement. The rail engaging member still has some freedom of movement with respect to the foot member. If this is not enough to allow for the full contraction of the rail the bent up portion 26 is readily pressed back into its original shape by the rail engaging member when the latter moves backwardly from the tie. I

While I have described my invention in certain preferred embodiments, it will be understood that further modifications might be made without departure from the principles of the invention. Therefore I do not wish to be understood as limitingthe invention to the precise constructions, arrangements and devices shown except so far as certain of the claims herein may be specifically so limited.

I claim:

1. A rail stay comprising a member adapted to engage a rail and a foot member adapted to bear against the tie; said members being engaged one with the-other for handling as a unitary device but so that the rail engaging member may move, relatively to the foot member, with the longitudinal movements of the rail when engaged therewith.

2. A rail stay comprising a member adapted to engage a rail and a foot member adapted to bear against a tie; said members being engaged one to the other for handling as a unitary device but so that the rail engaging member may, when engaged with the rail,

. have free, unimpeded movement to and from the part of the foot member bearing againstthe tie.

3. A rail stay comprising a resilient member adapted to engage a rail by spring action, and a foot member adapted to bear against the tie; said membersv being engaged one with the other for handling as a unitary device but so that the rail engaging member may move, relatively to the foot member, with the longitudinal movements of the rail when engaged therewith. p

4. In a rail stay, the combination of a rail engaging member consisting of a fiat bar of metal to extend under the base of a rail and provided at opposite ends with means for engaging opposite edges of the rail base, and a foot member adapted to bear against a tie and formed with a tongue to extend between the rail engaging member and the rail; said tongue and rail engaging member being engaged one to the other to permit the device to be handled as a unitary structurebut so that the rail engaging member may move,

relatively to the foot member, with the longitudinal movements of the rail when engaged therewith.

5. In a rail stay, the combination of a rail engaging member consisting of a fiat bar of spring metal to extend under the base of a rail and provided at opposite ends with means for resiliently engaging opposite edges of the rail base, and a foot member adapted to bear against a tie and formed Iandrail engaging member'being engaged with a tongue to extend between the rail engaging member and the-"rail; said ton e and rail engaging member 'eing engage one to the other to permit the dev1ce to be handled as a unitary structure but so that the rail engaging member may move, relatively to the foot member, with the I longitudinal movements of the rail when engaged therewith. 4

6. In a rail stay, the combination of a rail engaging member consisting of a flat bar of metal to extend under the base of a rail, formed at one end with rail engaging means, the other end being bent into vertical position and formed with a notch in its extremity to engage an edge of the rail base, and a foot member adapted to bear against a tie and formed with a tongue to extend between the rail engaging member and the rail; said tongue and rail engaging member being engaged one to the other to permit the'devlce to be handled as a unitary structure but so that the rail engaging member may move, relatively to the foot member, with the longitudinal movements of the fail when engaged therewith.

7. In a rail stay, the combination of a rail engaging member consisting of a flat bar of spring metal to extend under the base of a rail, formed at one end with rail engaging means, the other end being bent into vertical position to form a spring hook adapted to resiliently engage an edge of the rail base, and a foot member adapted to bear against a tie and formed with a tongue to extend between the rail engaging member and the rail; said tongue and rail engaging member being engaged one to the other to permit the device to be handled as a unitary structure but so that the. rail engaging member ma move, relatively to the foot member, wit the longitudinal movements of the rail when engaged.

8. In a rail stay, the combination of a rail engaging member composed of a flat bar of spring metal to extend under the base of a rail, bentover at one end to overlap one edge of said rail base, the other end of said bar being notched at its extremit. and bent so as to provide a resilient hoo standing edgewise of the rail base and engaging the edge thereof, and a foot member adapted to bear against a tie and formed with a tongue to extend between the rail engaging member. and the rail; said tongue one to the other to permit the device to be handled as a unitary structure but so that extend between the rail engaging member and the rail, and a device for engaging the tongue and bar which is of a character to be severed by the movement of the rail engaging member with the rail.

10. In a rail stay, the combination of a rail engaging member consisting of a flat bar of metal to extend under the base of a rail and provided at opposite ends with means for engaging opposite edges of the rail base, a foot member adapted to bear against a tie and formed with a tongue to extend between the rail engagingmember and the rail, and a rivet uniting said tongue and bar of a character to be sheared by the movement of the rail engaging member with the rail.

11. A rail stay comprising a member adapted to engage a rail, a foot member adapted to bear against a tie, and a device for securing said members together of a character to be severed by the movement of the rail engaging member with the rail.

12. A rail 'stay comprising a member adapted to engage a rail, a foot member adapted to bear against a tie, and a rivet for securing said members together of a character to be severed by the movement of the rail engaging member with the rail.

13. A rail stay comprising a member adapted to engage a rail, a member adapted to engage a tie, and severable means forconnecting said members together in operative position with respect to each other.

14. A rail stay comprising a rail engaging member adapted to engage a rail with spring action, a tie engaging member, and severable means 'for connectmg said members together in operative position with respectto each other.

'15. A rail stay comprising a rail engagin member, a tie abutting member provide with an abutment for the rail engaging member, and severable' means for connecting the rail engaging member to the tie engaging member at a point ashort distance from said abutment.

16. In a rail stay, the combination of a rail engaging member consisting of a flat bar of steel,- one end of which is bent over to overlap one edge of the base of a rail, the other end of which is notched and bent so A ently engage the same, an intermediate poris adapted to bear, and a rivet for securing 1 J as to form it hook standing edgewise with rewhich lies in said seat between the bar and spect to the rail base and adapted to resilithe rail base, shoulders against which the bar tion of the bar being formed with a seat, a the bar to the t0ngue-at a point which initie abutting member consisting of a, tie abuttially holds said bar spaced away from said ting flange and a horizontal plate reduced shoulders. v in width at the end to provide a. tongue HIRAM H. SPONENBURG.

Corrections hi Letters Patent No. 1,228,613.

It is hereby oertified that in Letters 1 mm No. 1,228,613, gfanted June 5, 1917, upoe the a-pplicat ionof Hiram H. Sponenburg, of Gurnee, Illinois, or en im- Brovoment. in Rail-Stays, errors appear in the printed specification requiring correction as follows: Page I line 93, for the word held reed laid; page 2, line 13, for the reference-numeral 20 IBBd IO; and that the said Letters Patent should be read with these corrections therein that. the same may conform to the record of the case in the Patent 015%.

signed andpealed this 14th day of August, A. 1)., 1917.

R. F. WHITEHEAD,

Commissioner ofPatem.

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